The Glass Ocean by Lori Baker had the potential to be a fascinating story, but instead I found it tedious and almost impossible to get through.

Baker tells the story of Leo Dell’Orro and Clotilde Girard who meet aboard the Narcissus, a boat on expedition in the 1840’s. Leo is hired to draw pictures of all the specimens collected from the ocean, and later, after Clotilde’s father mysteriously disappears, they get married and live in England where Leo finds work as a glassmaker.

The descriptions of glass making are wonderful and Baker is a talented writer, but not such a great storyteller. I didn’t care at all about the characters, Clotilde particularly was so unpleasant it was hard to even read about her. The story got lost in all the details and I was so tired by the end I just wanted to be done with it.